Last



Patented Dec. 3, 1946 .UNITED STATES .f-oFFslcE; l 2,412,008' v f i. i..

LAST y 'Louis W. Reinhardt, Brockton,"-Mass. y APPlcation March .16, 1944, QSgerial fNo. 526,727

Mv .present invention relates to lasts and particularly to that t-ypefof ,last usedy in the sofcalled fslip-lasting of footwear.

`In accor.dance withnne methodof making footwear, a sole member, serving .as an insole, is attached to the upper, a'last is then inserted, and the .solestructure 'isthen vattached to the insole member. In suchs'hoe manufacture, the upper, with its attached sole member, is relatively .shapeless and commonly 'is made without a counter, It is accordingly dillicult to avoid stretching the upper when the last is inserted.

' Lasts for 4use vin lasting shoes made by this method consist .of a fore part and a heel part severed on an inclined plane through the waist of the 'last by offset saw kerfs from opposite sides and split .apart to 'form discontinuous mutually contacting rearwardly and downwardly inclined faces with the Afore part having adjacent its bottom surface a rearwardly disposed ledge or shoulder, vformed by the above-mentioned splitting, to serveas a s'top Vfor the complementa'l shoulder left on the'back part. The fore part and the vheel part are formed with alined pockets or narrow kerfs to accommodate a connecting member vby which the last parts are lpivotally'connected .to permit the last parts to be collapsed for insertion into the upper and to have a toggle action when the heel part is pressed vdown to bring the last 'faces into Contact. All of this is generally old inthe prior art.

'Such llas'ts'usually included means to -interconnect .the `last parts when the last .is expanded in the upper and it is to -the provisionof .ar-igid and easily -operated connection that my invention is particularly directed.

I accomplish this result in accordance with my present invention by forming the last parts with a bore extending diagonally forwardly from the upper surface of the heel part in advance of the jack socket into the fore part laterally of the longitudinal kerf pocket in which the connecting member is pivotally held as by transverse pins at its opposite end. This bore receives a locking unit in the form of a pair of resilient arms to engage frictionally with the bore with one of the arms formed to establish a shoulder dening a slot for a keeper pin. By this construction, I provide a 6 Claims. (Cl. y-1-,2-136) 'Fig'. 1 shows ,such a shoe 'longitudinally sec-` tioned to expose a last in accordance with my invention. I

Fig. 12 is `a'longitudinal.section of the last with: outfthe shoe.

"Fig, 3 .is ,a view of 'the contact face of Lthepfore part.

Fig. 4 is a similar View o'f .the rearpar't.

Fig. 5is a side view ofthe locking member, rand Fig. 6 is a View of the handling hook. for unlocking the last parts ,and removing the last from the shoe. L

lfteferring to Fig. "l of the drawing, AI A'have indicated a .shoe upper Ill -having Va tongue II and insole I2. 11n it,`Ihave indicated the fore part of a divided last .at I3 anda rear or back part at 'I4 as having ausualjack hole or socket. The rear part I also has a transverse hole I6 through the heel partjjust ahead yof theja'ck socket. 'The fore part 13 and the heel parlt 'I'4 are formed with rear# Wardlyanddownwardly inclined faces I1 and IB,

respectively. The orepart I3 adjacent its lower dom vintheir slippage and `relative movement, and

provided that such means substantially ',.fll .the s`lots2| to holdthem alined. j j' The locking member generally indicated at '2"4, is .an ,important 4factor in my present invention as itgprovides efhcient and economical means :of s -plnting the last ,parts 'in ,their extendedposition. It.y is V,pieera'bly made from "half-round' .wire bent to form vtwo arms 25 of substantial length con"-A nected by a rounded eye portion 26 adapted to be engaged by the hook 2'!r and to provide an external stop t0 prevent the member 24 from being pushed in too far. The eye or loop 26 also serves to resiliently space the opposite flat faces of the arms 25. The end of one arm 25 isbent as at 28 to engage the flat face of the other arm adjacent its end to provide .a shoulder.

I form the heel parts I4 with a bore 29extend-l ing forwardly and downwardly from the upper surface of the heel part I4 to register, when the last is in its extended position, with a forwardly and downwardly extending bore 30 in the fore part I3. Ihe bores 29 and 30 are adaptedjto fricf tionally receive the locking member 24'and are 1 from the shoe by pulling on the locking member 24. In this operation the hook 21 may be used to advantage. Occasionally, a last is diicult to remove by pulling,v onthe locking member it is forthatreason that'I provide Vthe back' part I4 with the transverse bore I6 so that the back part I4 may be directly engaged by the hook 21.

In use, the fore part I3 of the collapsed last is inserted into a shoe andthe heel of the rearV` i pin disposed transversely between said spaced part I4 is positioned as shown in its dotted line position in Fig. l. The front of the heel part I4 is then depressed to bring the last into its extended position characterized by the inclinedfaces I1, I8 and the complemental shoulders I9 and lbeing in mutual contact. The locking member 24 is then pushed forwardly to connect the last parts.

Because of the length of the bores 29' and 30 and because of the length and nature of the lockingmember 24, my invention provides for a very rigid but easily operated connection and provides effective meansV to make sofcalled slip-lasts extremely satisfactory iny use.

' What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: n

1. In a divided last,'a fore part and a heel part having inclined faces contactable in a plane secant of the waistline zone of the last, avlink connection pivotally connected to eachpermissive of the relative sliding and swinging of the parts, a bore extending' from the upper face of the heel part forwardly and downwardly into the fore` part and a locking member slidable in said bore between a position in which it locks the last parts together` and a position in which the last parts are unlocked, said member consisting of apair of resilient arms and a head,A the endv of one arm being inturned to meet the other arm, and a'keeper pin disposed transversely between said spaced arms to limit rearward movement of said member to establish the unlocked position. .-2 ;.In a divided last, `a fore part and a h'eel paithaving inclined shouldered faces contactab'le ina plane secant of the waistline zone of theA last, alink connection pivotally connected to each permissiveof the relative sliding and swinging of the parts, a bore extending from the upper face of the last forwardly. and downwardly into the foreipart, a locking member slidable in said bore and consisting of a, pair of half-round arms hav-`V ing their at faces resiliently held spaced by an intermediate integral loop constituting an exterior head stop, the end of one arm being inturned to meet the flat face of the other and a keeper have open and closed positions, a bore extendingv arms permissive of limited sliding movement but constituting an internal longitudinal stop for the said inturned arm end.

3. The last of claim 2, in which the head of the locking member is engageable by a hook and the bore is forwardly of the jack socket, and the last has a transverse bore between the jack socket andthe member receiving bore also engageable by -thehookffy Ig s v 4.".In*a divided'last, a-for'e partfan'd aheel part, a link connection pivotally connected to each of said parts to permit said last parts to be positioned relative to each other so that said last may have open and closed positions, a bore extending through the heel part, a bore extending downwardly into theV fore part and alining with said rst named bore when said last is in its closed position, and a locking member in said rst bore slidable into said second bore when said last is in its closed position thereby to establish a locked position for saidV member, said member having a Y 5. In la divided last, a fore Ypart and a heel part, a link connection pivotally connected to each of said parts to permitsaid last parts to bey positioned relative to each other so that said last mayyhaveopen and closed positions, a ,bore extending downwardly through the heel part, a

bore extending downwardly into the fore part and alining with said first named bore when said last is in its closed position, `and a locking member slidably locked in said first named bore and slidable into said second namedbore when said last is in its closed polsitionthereby to lock said last parts, said member comprising a pair ofinterconnected arms spaced to resiliently engage in said bore. j Y v 6. In a divided last, a fore part and a heel part, a link connection pivotally connected to each of said parts to permit said last parts to be positioned relative to each other Vso that said last may downwardly through the heel part, a bore extending downwardly into thefore part andk alining with said first named bore when said last isy in its Vclosed position, a Vlocking member in said iirst named bore slidable into said second named bore when said last is in its closed position thereby to lock said last parts, said member comprising a pair of .interconnected arms spaced resiliently engage in said bore, and stopmeanfs carried by said heel part and engagingwith said. locking member when said locking .memb'erfis'V withdrawn from said secondA named bore.

LOUIS W. REINHARD".4 Y 

